Woman must pay £1,000 in penalties for dropping a cigarette butt on the ground

Published:16:31Tuesday 27 October 2015

A young smoker who dropped her cigarette butt on the floor just feet away from a litter bin has been ordered to pay nearly £1,000 by Milton Keynes magistrates.

Tiffany Cobb, who is 25, was convicted in her absence of littering and ordered to pay a fine of £220 under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. She was also ordered to pay MK Councils’ legal and investigation costs of £575.70, a £22 victim surcharge and the Criminal Courts Charge of £150.

The court heard that on 20 July Ms Cobb, who lives in London, was smoking a cigarette near City Square at CMK.

She threw it on the floor, ignoring all the nearby litter bins.

She was stopped and issued a £75 Fixed Penalty Notice for the offence, but failed to pay - despite the council sending out a reminder letter.

Environmental Crime Team Leader for the council, Pete Roberts, said: “MK City Centre Management and Partner Agencies are working hard to tackle the issue of smoking related litter in Central Milton Keynes.

“Companies have paid to put their own butt bins up on public land as they are concerned about the effect this is having on their business.

“Dropping cigarette ends on the floor is a habit for a lot of smokers, but they are probably unaware of the issues that it is causing or of the fact that it is a criminal offence.”